Atheists complain BBC won't let them on Thought For The Day

Louise Jury Media Correspondent
Wednesday 14 August 2002 00:00 BST
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Michael Foot and Harold Pinter were among more than 100 public figures who protested to the BBC yesterday over a ban on atheist contributors to BBC Radio 4's Thought For The Day slot.

A letter signed by prominent figures in politics, the media and academia was sent after the BBC committed itself to maintaining the religious content of the talk, which lasts for two and a half minutes on the Today programme.

Thought For The Day has been part of the Radio 4 schedules for decades but has been criticised in recent years for the blandness of some of the contributions. Rod Liddle, the editor of Today, is said to be derisory about the value of Thought For The Day and the BBC has acknowledged looking at ways to refresh it.

Signatories to the letter said that to exclude atheists from the airwaves was ridiculous when they might have something thought-provoking to say.

Among them were the broadcaster Sir Ludovic Kennedy, the jazz singer George Melly and the authors John Fowles and Philip Pullman.

The letter said: "By retaining the ban, the BBC is discriminating against the non-religious, and thus giving the impression of promoting religion as the only source of ethics."

A spokesman for the signatories said: "The BBC admits that Thought For The Day is boring and yet they will not consider opening it up to people who might have something less hidebound and more stimulating to say."

But a spokeswoman for the BBC said: "Today is a secular programme so it is appropriate that we take two or three minutes to look at world issues from a faith perspective." She added that contributors came from all faiths.

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